A Yugioh GX OneShot: Meteor Shower
by Toshiku Yumari
Summary: Takara Kawano, sarcastic and cold, comes to Duel Academy as a Slifer. But what will happen to her when an Obelisk's dark eyes change her whole life perspective? ChazzXOC


Hi people! Well, this is my first Yugioh FanFic, so I decided to start out with a GX One-Shot. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did while writing it. Happy reading!

* * *

Meteor Shower

I let out a loud sigh as I gave my backpack a toss into the corner of the room closest to the bed that I'd have to call mine for the next couple months, at least until the next break came. But I knew that it would feel like an eternity until that day came. It always did, no matter what new school I went to, or how many people where there that I enjoyed. It always ended up the same.

Someone would be there that I'd be unable to stand, and I'd end up in a fight with them. Resulting in me being shunned by everyone that had once been near me. I hoped that being at a completely new place might help with that; my anger-issue-consultant-person-guy thought so as well (I didn't know what he was besides some guy who was overly obsessed with clowns, dolls, and blow-up people in swimsuits. And he thought I had sentiment-control problems). I could only hope that this would work out somehow. I wasn't sure how many more schools I, or anyone else, for that matter, was willing to try.

But, for some reason I couldn't be sure of, I had a good feeling about this school, like this was going to be the last time I'd have to give up the barely-old to make room for the new that I wasn't even ready for. It had appeared promising, but looks were always deceiving, and I hadn't trusted it. I still didn't. The main thing I was concerned about was the fact that the ranks sort of—

"So, you're the new girl Professor Crowler's mentioned!"

_Oh, crap._ I'd completely forgotten that I would be sharing a dorm with a couple of other girls, and I still hadn't met them. I had been hoping to avoid them for as long as I could, but it seemed that 'long', in my case, was going to be ending pretty darn quick. I looked up from the floor and glanced over at the door, only to see three girls all wearing the same red and white mini-skirts and sleeve-less tops that was mandatory all the Slifers wear. Judging by how short the skirts were on them, I knew I would hate wearing them even more than I normally would a skirt.

"I wouldn't know. I met the cross-dresser today," I replied with an unsure and uncaring shrug. At a first glance, they did appear to be a bunch of prissy brats, and sounded like them, too. But they weren't talking non-stop—yet—and I was hoping they would remain that way. "I'm assuming that I'll be living here with you three?" I wanted to drop the conversation, fall face-first onto the bed in front of me, and sleep through the rest of the chatter that was inescapable, but I forced myself into believing that wasn't a good idea, and stayed up on my feet.

At first, they seemed a bit offended by the remark about Crowler, but then they glanced at each other, and smiles broke across their faces and laughter erupted from their mouths. Although that was a good thing, it made me feel even more uneasy about talking to them. Things like this usually didn't tend to end very well.

The girl with platinum blonde hair put up in a loose bun was the first to cease the laughter and actually make another attempt at conversation. "You'd be right. I'm Ayako," She gestured to herself, batting her pale sea-green eyes as she did so. There was so much mascara on her eyelashes that it looked like they were drooping, even though I could tell from here that they really weren't. She looked like she had two discolored black eyes because of her eye shadow and liner, but I bit my tongue and said nothing as she named off the other two.

"This is Shina," Standing on her left was a girl slightly shorter than her with dark green hair that was tied back in a ponytail that sat high up on her head. The shade reminded me of a cross between grass and moss that you'd find on a rock, the lighter shade highlighting the strands here and there, though the majority of it was the dark moss-rock green. Her irises stuck out like two flashlights in total darkness, being a blindingly bright, but pale, sky blue.

The third Slifer chick was just as tall as me, if not taller, while they other two were a good couple of inches shorter (It took me until now to realize that they were lined up from tallest to shortest, starting from the right). Her hair was long, thick, and jet black like midnight itself; it was parted down the middle and braided into two separate parts, each hanging over a separate shoulder, but leaving her chin-length bangs to frame her face. "And last, but not least, Kumiko," I felt as if her bold, yet cold blue eyes were trying to pick apart my mind, break into my psyche and tear me into pieces.

A silence fell across us, making it quite obvious to me that they were awaiting my name, which I was surprised that the blonde professor hadn't told them. From what they'd said earlier, it sounded like he'd been telling the whole assembly every little detail about me so that they would all have inside jokes to snicker about whenever I was in his class. When I finally figured that I couldn't escape without introducing myself, I let a quiet sigh out through my nose and pointed to myself without much razzle-dazzle. "Kawano, Takara Kawano."

The three of them beamed at me as if I'd been a sister to them all my life, and I'd been lost for a time but had just been found again. They all jumped forward and hugged me like a little kid would hug a new puppy, quite frankly creeping me out beyond all reason. "I know we're going to have so much fun getting to know each other over the school year!" Shina exclaimed, the other two agreeing with her as their bubbly laughter continued. I could feel my skin crawl at their touch, and slinked out of their grasp quickly. I didn't like it when people touched me, especially people I barely knew.

But seeing their stunned reaction, I forced a smile and made up the cheesiest lie I could think of, hoping to myself that they would believe anything I said as long as I was grinning like they did. "Sorry, I'm a little tired from the trip over here, and it is getting a bit late anyways. If you don't mind, I'm going to pass out for a couple of hours," I sat down on the bed, giving that extra bit of proof that I was kinda telling the truth since I was exhausted.

"Yeah, sure," Kumiko replied in a friendly tone, shrugging her shoulders in way that made her hair bounce up a bit. The other two smiled and nodded in agreement, leaving the room through the open door behind the braided Slifer. "We'll talk to you more tomorrow morning before class, or if you get up later on tonight." With that, Kumiko followed the other two out and closed the door behind her, finally letting me be alone in the silence that I enjoyed.

I raised myself up from the bed, went over to my pack, and pulled out a pair of headphones along with my MP3 Player. I flopped back down on the bed as I turned it on and put on the headphones. I laid the device by my side before folding my arms up underneath my head to serve as a better cushion than the pillow did. I closed my eyes and let the awesome rivets of the guitar strings calm me into a light slumber, the lyrics still ringing in my head.

* * *

I woke up slowly, feeling rejuvenated from my long sleep, but not wanting to get out of my comfortable position despite it. Glancing around the room, I found it odd that no one else was here, especially so early in the morning. But then I started to grow a bit suspicious of my solitude. If it was really so early, then I would be able to hear the deep breathing of three other girls asleep, one above in the bunk above me and the other two in the one on the other end of the room by the curtained window.

I heard nothing but silence, but the reason behind that silence hit me harder than a two-ton behemoth: The three of them had already left for class, and had failed at their attempts to wake me up, if they even had ventured to try.

A feeling of dread and anxiety came over me as I tore my headphones from my head, leaping up as I did so. I tossed the music-playing device onto my bed, and picked up the lone skirt and top that were clearly mine. I put them on as fast as I could, pulled my slightly messed-up dark reddish-orange hair (I wouldn't know if there was a rat in it since I didn't have the time to look in a mirror) into a loose ponytail at the base of my neck, and took off for the main building where I'd find my first class.

Now, I wished I'd taken the time to find where all of my classes would be.

Thankfully, I knew who my teacher would be, and I could hear his shemale voice from in the vast hallways. I stopped near the closest door, and was relieved to find that I'd chosen the right door. I could see Crowler's creepily long blonde hair swishing around as he taught, and the look on his face told me that he knew I wasn't there, and was strangely happy about it. For the most part, I was too. But both of our joys were about to be murdered.

I sighed with a bit of aggravation at my conscience as I slowly pushed to door open, hoping to myself that I would be able to sneak in and find an empty place before anyone could notice. However, no such luck could be found in that stupid leprechaun's pot of gold for me. It was as if the door had freakin' exploded with the way that everyone turned to stare.

Slinking back out the door was my first instinct. _I'm already here. I may as well just stay and deal with it like always. _I acted as if a million little eye balls weren't following me and moved in the direction of the closest seat in the auditorium-similar classroom. But Crowler was determined to get back at me for my cross-dresser comment that I'd moronically said straight to his face when we'd first met (How was I supposed to know it would come back to bite me—Okay, forget that question).

I knew I was in for it when he cleared his throat expectantly, and when I turned to face him, her gestured for me to come over and stand in front of the class next to him. Inwardly snarling and spitting like a pissed cat, I reluctantly came over to Professor Crowler. He tapped my shoulder awkwardly—I assumed it as his way of acknowledging me, or something—before looking up at his vast ocean of students and saying loud enough to make sure that everyone heard him, "Obelisks, Ra Yellows, and Slifers, Takara Kawano is our newest Slifer Red member. She's been known as an exceptional dueler despite her rank, so if you see her on campus, feel free to test her skills out yourselves."

I wanted to drown him for saying that, but kept my mask of blankness on my face as I meandered over to the closest empty spot, which, of course, was way up near the Obelisk Blues, who seemed as ecstatic about being near a Slifer as I was them. It was like they had the urge to spray me with bug spray until I was twitching with death on the floor.

I inched through the little pathway dividing the next row of connected table/desks from the chairs in front of them until I got to the empty spot. The worst part of it was that an Obelisk was right next to me, not to mention all kinds of other snot-nosed Blues were all around me besides him. The only ones who weren't were two Slifers and a Ra Yellow, but I tried to ignore all of them and focus on class as it began to resume. I _should've_ been attempting to do that, anyway. I was too busy staring at the Obelisk out of the corner of my eye.

Jet black hair that was sectioned into two parts slightly in front of his eyes, which were fixed to the front of the room in such a way that I couldn't tell what color they were. For whatever reason, not knowing that bothered me to the point that I tried to inconspicuously move around in my chair to get a better angle. But that didn't nothing but get his attention. Mainly the annoyed part.

The Obelisk Boy turned a little in his chair, just enough to stare at me with an irritated glare, clearly not enjoying that fact that I was a Slifer, and was sitting right next to him. "What are you staring at me for, _Slifer_?" He growled quietly, saying my rank with a bit of disdain; I wondered why until I remembered that we were still in class and Crowler apparently had ears like a thousand year-old hawk.

However, this new position gave me the opportunity to see his eyes better, though they weren't anything like I was expecting. They were dark like night itself, but there was a strange light about them that made it seem as if someone had taken a jar full of moonlight and threw it in his face, some of it getting into his eyes and dyeing them with the tranquil light. I couldn't look away; I simply stared back into them, forgetting completely that he'd said anything.

The black-haired Obelisk smirked at me deviously, those pretty eyes sparkling with his demonic nature. The competitive aura that omitted from him made my skin tingle; the deck at my side felt heavier than usual. "Gravelling in my presence, are you? Well, I hope you know that a picture will last—" _Haven't heard this one before…_

"Longer. Oh, Kitten, I know. Don't get your hair all tangled up," I growled with a happy nature to my tune. A small grin altered the straight line my lips had once been at the raging expression that had suddenly appeared on the Blue Coat's face. Turning from him, I closed my eyes coolly, the smirk that told him there was no real way for him to recover after that laying lazily on my face. "And I don't gravel, especially not over someone of your quality. Just because you're one of the top dogs around here doesn't mean that a new Slifer like me couldn't take you out in a matter of minutes." I opened one eye and glanced at him, the knowledge of the intensity I'd probably just made his irritation sitting directly in front of my mind's eye.

I was incredibly surprised at how calmly he seemed to take my comment about dueling him; he acted as if something like that had actually happened before. His look of aggravation at my entity's presence seemed to lessen, and became softer, much to my disadvantage. "Your name was Takara Kawano, wasn't it?" His inquiry sounded so innocent, like he hadn't shown me a malevolent side of his persona. It was pretty simple to forget, but the wall around every part of me wasn't.

Letting out a quiet pondering sound, I gave a small nod of my head in reply. If I wouldn't known our conversation/argument would've ended right then and there, I wouldn't thought of something better. He gave me one more odd glance, but returned to class, obviously with something now on his mind. And it certainly couldn't have been Crowler's lecture.

I realized right then, at the most inconvenient time, that I still didn't know his name.

* * *

After hours of classes that I was barely attentive in at all, the school day was finally over. As I was meandering back to my dorm to drop off my bag—I had no intention of staying in the same room as the other three girls—I was forced to stop when I heard someone calling my name. When I turned to look back at them, I noticed that they were the same two Slifer guys that had been sitting by that Obelisk and I during Crowler's class.

"Hey, Takara! What's up?" The taller one, clearly older, had brown hair, the upper layer appearing to be a lighter shade than the other section. His bright chocolate-colored eyes were as happy and carefree as anyone could ever wish to be. _He must be the kind of guy that they make anti-depressants out of…_ "I know you don't know me, but I can fix that like…well, anything! My name's Jaden, Jaden Yuki—"

A light-blue-haired kid peeked out from behind Jaden, but jumped out from his fortress of the older boy's shadow when he saw me standing there. Bright pink hues began to creep over his cheeks as he gazed at me, and from behind his glasses I could see his pale eyes dancing with love-struck-ness. _Oh, crap._ "Aren't you going to introduce me, Jaden?" _Double crap. Another name to remember._

A knowing smile crossed Yuki's face as he grinned down at the other boy, who didn't even think to take his eyes off of me, lest I run away. "Right, right. And this is Syrus," He gestured to the short one; his staring abilities were really starting to freak me out. Now was one of those moments that you wanted someone with some kind of magical cube thing to show up and suck him into it, like Ghostbusters, or something. _But we all know that's not going to happen. _

Not knowing what to say, and lacking the motivation to tell them to get away from me, I turned and motioned for them to walk with me. "I saw you two in class this morning. You were sitting a little ways in front of me, beyond the troops of Obelisks." Syrus walked on my left side, close enough to step on my foot. His eyes were glued to me, hanging on every word that fell from my mouth. Jaden wasn't as creepy, he kept his distance and acted as normal as a guy like him could.

"A newbie in a death zone, that had to have sucked. There are a good lot of those guys that were probably itching to take a piece of you, especially after Crowler's comment." A snarl crossed my face at Jaden's reminder of the professor. I hadn't been here for much longer than a day or so and I'd already made one of my own teachers an enemy. And one with the ability to do almost anything he wanted to in order to torture me here.

Finding nothing else to say, I muttered a fettered and raging, "Yeah," It wasn't as bad as Jaden had made it sound, but I knew I hadn't exactly made a buddy out of the pretty-eyed Obelisk that had sat next to me during class this morning. He'd appeared to have convinced himself to ignore me for the most part, mainly at the end of our 'meeting', but there was something strange about him that I didn't understand. It was impossible to know what he thought of me, or my comment about dueling him. But I found it even more inconceivable to learn of how I felt about him.

"Professor Crowler always treats Slifers like that on their first year," Syrus remarked quietly, a soothing tone to his voice that made me feel as if he were trying to butter me up. He was making his split-second crush painstakingly obvious. "I think he's just trying to ruff them up a bit, you know, mess with them so he can see what they're all about." _If you're right, then he messed you up pretty bad._

Jaden made a small sound of slight disagreement at his fellow Slifer's thought, and added his own opinion into the conversation, "I don't know, Sy. I think he acts like that to stay on his students' good sides. A lot of the Obelisks are like that, yeah, so they'd think that, logically, their teacher would be the same way. He's kinda forced into it, if you think about it." I had to admit, Jaden did have a good point, though I said nothing remotely similar to that.

"I don't really care why he acts like he does. He's a cross dresser, and that's all I have to know." My comment earned a deafening laugh—with a complementary snort—from Jaden, who smacked me on the back as a way of telling me, 'Nice one, buddy!'. Syrus, on the other hand, glanced around nervously, like he thought that someone—anyone—around us might be some kind of a spy for Crowler. _Dude, you're so paranoid. Actually, knowing it's Crowler I guess that's not such a bad suspicion._

The Yuki boy still hadn't gotten a hold of himself by the time we got to my dorm. Both of them had to wait outside—it was a girls' dorm, after all—as I ran in to drop off my bag, wondering the whole time why I didn't just ditch them like I had a lot of other people, namely my step-brother. Although I searched deeply, reasons to do so evaded me easily, and I found nothing.

Shrugging the thought off, I opened the door wide enough to toss my backpack in, and left again before any of my roommates had the chance to comment on my behavior. There was no human being in the world that could stand that kind of a conversation for more than a few seconds, maybe a minute if they had an unlimited amount of patience. 'You should be more open', 'It's good to talk about what's inside, you know', 'A wall isn't going to protect you, it'll kill you'. I'd heard all of it at least once before, but none of them actually did what they talked about.

Listen.

"Hey! Takara, wait up!" Reluctantly, I stopped for the ump-teenth time, turning with an unmistakably irritated sigh towards one of my roommates. Knowing it was Kumiko by her long braids, I silently cursed myself for even thinking about waiting to see who it was. The hug they'd given me last night still haunted me, and I'd avoided them as best I could all day long—I'd made that pretty clear to anyone who'd seen me climb that tree. I couldn't imagine what she'd have to say about _that_.

It was obvious to her that I had no intention of sticking around for much more than a couple of seconds, so she went straight to the point and it kinda creeped me out, mainly because I never talked to people other than my shadow about this kind of thing. "Who's that guy standing outside our dorm? He's really hot." Her face immediately blazed with a fiery red hue, the intensity of it boggling my mind. _How could you be into someone you've only seen?_

Raising an eyebrow at her extreme bluntness about such a topic, but finding no real need to keep the information from the other Slifer, I shrugged and mumbled, "His name's Jaden Yuki. And I'm outta here…so see ya." I turned on my heel and started away from her, the silence unexpectedly awkward due to her comment.

"…Can you ask him out for me?"

Nearly tripping at the startling inquiry, I spun back around and stared at her incredulously. Seeing the bewilderment in my eyes clear as daylight, Kumiko laughed, probably thinking that I was just surprised she was asking me to do such a thing. Which was true, but that wasn't the basis of my puzzlement, at least not that by itself. Add the facts that she barely knew me and also that I had shown no intention of wanting to know anything more about them than their names, and she had pretty much hit the nail on the head.

In spite of searching through my whole mental dictionary, I saw nothing to use as a suitable reply, and dropped the conversation like a grenade. My sudden escape didn't seem to hinder Kumiko's high spirited nature, however, and she flitted back to the room snickering at what I assumed to be thoughts of Jaden that I didn't want to imagine. _Let's hope the other two don't like him, or else I'll have to sleep through a cat fight._

With that happy thought in my head, I rushed back out of the dorm before any of them had time to stop me. When I got back out, only expecting to see Syrus and Jaden, I was quite surprised to find a third Slifer dude there. He was at least three times Jaden's size and his hair was black, with little puffball-shaped things (I was pretty sure it was just the way he had his hair, but it was kinda freaking me out) on top of his head. When he turned to face me, he stared for a while, his eyes never leaving my form. I figured he hadn't had much interaction with humans of the opposite gender.

It took a minute for Jaden to figure out why he was looking at me, but when it finally clicked he jumped into action. "Oh! Chumley, that's Takara, the new girl in Slifer. She was in Crowler's class this morning," He turned to me and gestured toward who I assumed was Chumley. _I guess an introduction is a waste of oxygen now. _"And Takara, this is Chumley. He's our other roommate."

The final Slifer gave me a slight nod of recognition, to which I replied with pretty much nothing but a twitch of my eye. I wasn't that terrific at greetings, and I was certain that had been made painstakingly clear. Jaden seemed to notice it a little bit, but if he did he really didn't show it all that much; however, Syrus and Chumley made that knowledge a great deal easier to see in their brains, mainly by the way that they glanced at each other when I didn't do very much at his 'hello'.

Silence had fallen between all of us, but Chumley broke it almost immediately, nudging Syrus's shoulder in doing so. "Hey, c'mon. You said you had a test tomorrow that you had to study for, so let's go." The little Slifer seemed crushed at his reminder, and looked to me automatically, seeming to expect me to tell him to stay. _That ain't happening._

When he saw that I wasn't going to say anything more to either of them, he hung his head slightly for a short moment, but then looked up instantly, his face filled with cheer again. "Good-night, Takara darling! See you in class tomorrow!" And with that freakishly creepy note, he started off for their dorm, Chumley trailing slowly along behind the speedy blue-haired kid.

After they'd left, Jaden closed the huge distance between us and snatched my arm, gently, though. "Come on, it's always fun to meander around campus on nights like these," The brown-eyed boy's persuasion was hard to fight against, mostly because he was dragging me and ignoring each attempt I made at a threat or contempt-dripping statement of why he should let me go (most of them tied in with the threats, though).

I calmed down after the realization of my escape being eminent became a bit clearer in my mind. Focusing less on that fact, I took more of the night into my sight. The stars glittered like icicles in the sunlight, the sky their black-ice cave. The darkness was cool, the wind picking up the comfortable temperature from it and chilling the rest of the world that was currently covered by the blanket of pure, clean sky. The moon was the light shining through the window, cutting through the dark like the love of someone dear through your skin, muscles, bones, straight to your heart. The pain of it was beautiful, it wasn't even pain, but with the way it tore you up, you imagine that it is. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt something as strong as that, aside from the power that ripped at my soul when I dueled.

"So, what did you do before you showed up here, Elfie?" I was pulled violently from my wonderings of the universe at Jaden's mention of that name. I'd known him for, what? a day? What the heck was 'elfie' supposed to be? I didn't even need to say anything, though, because my confusion was written boldly across my face. Jaden picked up on it in a jiffy. "It's your hair. When I think of elves, that's the exact color I imagine. So, I'm going to call you 'Elfie', from now until the day after the day we die! By then, it'll have gotten old." _Oh, joy._

_With that happy thought in mind, I may as well answer the twerp. _With a relentless sigh, I grumbled nonchalantly, "I was a teen like anybody else. What were you expecting?" The knowledge that hiding from someone with a persona similar to Jaden's was only a waste of time, and that eventually they would learn what they wanted of you was present in my head, but I rebelled against that fact. Speak of nothing, admit to nothing, guard everything.

That didn't seem to please my fellow Slifer in the least. I could sense that he wanted to scowl at me, but he held it back and kept reasonably calm. "I meant, what did you spend time doing? Where did you live? What kind of hand sanitizer do you buy? That kind of thing." A small smile returned to his kind, happy-go-lucky face, the moonlight reflecting off of his eyes in a way that made them seem the same as that Obelisk boy's. I was almost tempted to ask about him. Almost.

Instead, I countered his tender explanation with the first thing that came to my head. It was becoming increasingly simple to stand against his efforts as the conversation went on. "…Why did hand sanitizer come to your mind when you're thinking of questions to use as examples? Are you trying to tell me something?" I raised an eyebrow in his general direction, although I didn't look him directly in the eye. I'd been taught by many, many past experiences that the eyes gave away everything, and never to let anyone see yours openly when you were hiding from them. It didn't matter what secret you were guarding, it would be given away in a flash if you weren't careful.

Yuki ignored by attempt at a topic change and asked, forgetting the fact that I'd said anything entirely, "What was the first card you ever got?" I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, this new inquiry taking me completely by surprise. Having been expecting something involving soap-like things again, I was bewildered to hear something that wasn't all that personal. In a way it was, but it wasn't exactly important to know about someone.

Telling myself that there wasn't anything dangerous about telling Jaden such a thing, I reached into the clip-on pocket-thing (I'd never taken the time to come up with a real name for it, or read what it was on the receipt) on my belt, and pulled out the card. I knew it was the right one just by how it felt. It was torn in some places, and the coloring and print on it had begun to fade. When I'd first gotten it, I'd thought that it had to have been as old as time itself, because it was in this kind of a state (but a little bit shinier) when I'd found it.

"'Who Is Good Or Evil?'. Found it on the street one day. Bumped into somebody in a white trench coat, and when I looked down, it was laying in the gutter near me." I showed the tattered card to the other Slifer, and he gazed at it with awe, more likely than not stricken with surprise at its condition. After glancing hesitantly at me for permission, I allowed him to take a closer look at it, from his own palm.

He inspected it carefully, curiosity bright in his eyes as he wondered aloud, "I've never seen this card before. What does it do?" I figured he was going to ask that eventually, but I was surprised that he didn't know, having been here longer than I had and everything. But, after a second thought, he surely didn't seem to be the type to actually study more than what Syrus forced him to. And, even then, that probably wouldn't have ended up being much more than a few notes a month.

Without any kind of hesitation to my voice, I answered him automatically, the effect of the Spell Card having been imprinted on my psyche for having used so many times, saving it mainly for duels that were of immense importance. "You're supposed to use it right before the end of a duel, when you're about to lose. If you play it at the right time, you won't lose, but your opponent will. It's a good trick to have up your sleeve when you're in a tight spot, or if it's—for example—a life or death situation." I made sure not to mention that I'd used it in a few times that were similar to that; such a note would've been counter productive. It would've ruined everything, all that I'd hidden would be exposed, and he'd watch me fall apart. _Well, it's better than the whole class. I guess._

"That is pretty sweet," Jaden said with a grin, handing the card back to me while he spoke. I placed the card gently back into the haven of the deck, being careful that it didn't bend or tear any more than it already was. My step-brother had never considered how important my cards were to me, and always threw them around, taking no sense of tenderness with them. Most of my rarest, most treasured cards had been destroyed beyond repair at his hand. 'Who Is Good Or Evil?' was the lone card to have survived.

I nodded in agreement, but gave nothing more as a reply. But, to Yuki, that silence meant that I was curious, but too shy to actually ask, what his first card was. Reaching into his pocket, a sly look crossed his face. "Well, it may not be my _first_ card, but it is my favorite." Ignoring the fact that I'd just seen a small brown apparition floating around behind him, I glanced instead at the card he'd drawn. Winged Kuriboh, pretty cute with a decent effect. _Wait a second, that's what I just saw behind him…huh, that's kinda…creepy._

Forcing a grin that surpassed anything else that had ever decided to be malevolent, mischievous, or devious, I replied with a touch of faked revere, "Wicked." All of those small hints of happiness and friendship with the Slifer—not that I minded them, I was one of them after all—made me feel like I was about to black out. Even if it was faux, it didn't feel right at all. Such a long time had passed since I'd done anything like that; I didn't stop to make buddies very often.

Noticing the huge jump from personas, Jaden raised an eyebrow at me slightly. "Okay, I know I've only met you today, but I can tell that something's up with you," He jabbed me roughly in the ribcage, a teasing smile breaking across his face. "What scared away your bite?" _Want it to come back?_

"Nothing." I snapped back instantly, glaring at him for the tone. He got the hint for him to get away from me before I bent him in ways he wasn't made to go, but he didn't do as it wished. Almost like he wanted to show me that, he poked me again with his elbow. Repeatedly.

Amidst his prods, he repeated his inquiry, saying over and over again and again until I was certain I would explode, though I'd still hear him, "C'mon, Takara, it's only you and me here, and we're pals! You can tell me anything you want to—especially if you killed someone, or tried, because that would be really nice to know." _Oh, don't worry, Jaden. You'll know if I try._

Finally, I was too irritated to even care if he thought I was insane (That would be a good alibi when I attempted to murder him anyways). "Alright, alright!" Taking a short pause to think over my words, I started again carefully, slowly, "Right before you showed me Winged Kuriboh, I could've sworn that…that I saw that exact monster levitating near your shoulder like a shadow, a ghost. Are you happy now that you know my insanity, and need for an optometrist?" There were knives in my eyes when I glanced at him again, but they faded when I saw the puzzlement like light being reflected in the brown pools.

"…You can…see Winged Kuriboh?" He held up a finger, and the little monster appeared—without the card, it was back in Jaden's pocket—over it, though the image of him was slightly translucent, seeing as how I could see the outlines of the trees and sky behind him—er, through him. "Right here?" This felt more like the eye test I needed than a simple question. _Jaden: How many fingers am I holding up? Me: Winged Kuriboh._

Before I could even answer 'Yes' or 'No', Jaden had already concluded by the awestruck expression that had become plastered onto my face that I could see the wing-bearing fluff ball easy as could be. His confusion seemed to pass into the recesses of his mind (Procrastinator, even when it came to thinking) and cheerfulness replaced it automatically. "I can't believe it! You can see Spirit Monsters, and it doesn't look like you even have one! You learn something interesting every day! More times than not when you're not in class!" _Oh, yeah. Totally saw that one coming._

I wanted to ask what a Spirit Monster was and why I should've have been able to see the cute ball of brown fur, but was interrupted yet again. This time, however, by someone other than Jaden and his favorite facial expression. "What are you two doing up so late? Jaden, _you_ of all people should remember _curfew_." Looking up from Jaden and Winged Kuriboh, anger rose up in me when I saw a girl wearing an Obelisk uniform appeared to have melted from the darkness.

Jaden, seeing the reaction in me to the blue outfit, put a hand to my shoulder in an attempt to calm me. _…Dude, what the heck are you touching me for?_ I shrugged it off immediately and cast him a hard glance that demanded an explanation. He chose to introduce us as part of it. "Takara, this is Alexis, and even though she's an Obelisk, she's a good friend of mine and she's really nice. So, that being said, you don't have to go all beastie on us—" Kuriboh made a little cooing sound like laughter at that comment. "—And Alexis, you already know Takara. You saw how Crowler introduced her to the whole class this morning; he's taken to her like he did me way back when!"

Letting out a laugh at his humor—which I didn't get—Alexis looked at me with a bright smile, the feature making her eyes quite clear. They appeared to be a slightly darker shade of the hue of her hair, though by starlight they seemed more lively than they would've by the works of sunshine. "You know, not all Obelisks are snobs that don't care about anyone in a rank lower than theirs. I've got all kinds of friends who aren't like that. In fact, they'd—"

For once, it wasn't me being cut off by Jaden—in this case, his Duel Academy pager/cell phone/thing. After glancing at the message, he made the motion of needing to leave, and took off faster than I could shout, 'Don't leave me alone with this person! She might eat me!' _Now I'm just overreacting. And paranoid. And stupid. And insane—if I make a list, I'll be up all night. _

Getting over the fact that the brown-haired Slifer Boy had left us, Alexis finished what she'd been saying. "They'd love to meet you. After all," I tried to walk away from her, but she didn't take that for a good-bye and filled Jaden's empty footprints with her own two feet. "You _are_ the hot new topic around the Obelisk dorms, with everybody." She stole a peek at my reaction out of the corner of her eye, trying to keep her head facing forward to hide it.

I let out a loud snort, scoffing at her news like she'd told me it was going to rain raspberry sherbet tomorrow. Keeping my eyes focused on the path before us, I folded my arms behind my head composedly, portraying my tone in the same fashion. "Give me one good reason why I should believe that. Why, with all honesty, would I be interesting news for the Obelisks? For anybody—"

"Because of what Crowler said about your dueling skills; people are wondering why you're in Slifer if you're so good. They wanna know why you aren't in with the Ra Yellows if you've got so much spunk," Turning towards me completely, I could see—sadly—that I was a little shorter than her. If she noticed it, that's what the friendly smile was for, not for what she had to tell me. "_Everybody_ wants to be the one to duel you tomorrow." Even as she looked away from me, I caught a glimmer in her iris that said she shared that wishful virus.

But what was she talking about? "What do you mean by dueling me tomorrow? No one said anything about having any duels tomorrow!" My mind was racing as I searched and searched for anything that could've hinted towards scrimmaging duels. Maybe Crowler had said something about it early in the day when I was talking with that cute—_Dang it, I can't stand that guy!_—Obelisk. Or had one of my other teachers mentioned it at the end of the school day, when I'd high-tailed it out of the room so quickly it had felt like I'd leapt from my seat all the way over to the door?

Alexis gave me an astonished look, but it faded into her normal expression again when something crossed her mind. "I almost forgot that you're just like Jaden when it comes to school: You can't wait to get out. Crowler told the whole student body over the intercom that there were going to be inter-rank duels instead of regular classes tomorrow. You were probably halfway to Siberia when he did." She let out a little laugh, and I cracked a weak grin, mainly to I could escape faster. Not that I minded her, or the three other Slifers I'd met today.

But that Obelisk was on my mind, and I kept getting sidetracked from him whenever someone else came to talk to me. I didn't want to think about it; an Obelisk was meant to be my blood rival, and with the way I was pondering about him, that wasn't exactly evident. His face was imprinted on my mind's eye, and I couldn't make it look away. The tone of his tender voice (Heh, even when he was pissed at me it was still uniquely gentle like a flower, or soft like a Kuriboh) resounded loudly in my ears like a lullaby, feeding my exhaustion each time it sounded. However, the thing about him that puzzled me the most was the way his eyes hid nothing, but at the same time everything.

Certain things were clear in them, like how I'd been irritating him when I called him 'kitten'. But nothing had been revealed to me when I'd mentioned being able to kick his butt in a duel. Truthfully, he'd seemed a little eager to see if I could go through with that threat. _Well, Kitten, until I see you again, I'll plot that duel. _

_

* * *

_

Will they ever shut up?

My mind was plagued by Kumiko, Ayako, and Shina's (I was surprised that I remembered all of their names) incessant chatter about boys, makeup, and kissing. I would've tried to escape them by going to class, but the duels had been cancelled because one of the maintenance workers had screwed something up in the dueling arenas and it would take a couple of days until they were repaired. And since all the teachers had planned on having duels instead of classes, none of them had made a lesson, there was no class at all today.

So, my three roommates refused to leave my side because they thought I'd do something interesting. Awesome.

As I wandered aimlessly around campus, I hoped to run into Alexis or Jaden, or even Syrus or Chumley, anyone who could help rid me of the three annoying musketeers. But I didn't see any of them around at all; for some reason, there were only Obelisks around here. _I must've wandered onto their turf. Whatever. I might be able to find Alexis somewhere around here._

But as I walked, it wasn't Alexis that I found. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an Obelisk with black hair, and there was a trio of little monsters twirling around his head. _No wonder he looks pissed. _I wasn't sure why, but I had a strange feeling that he might be that Get-Out-of-Jail-Free ticket that I was hoping for. So, with no clue of my own purpose, I made a beeline for him.

I passed him without so much as a hindrance in the girls' pace; a sense of misery came over me. But all hope came back to me when I heard someone call my name, the voice serene and seemingly innocent; I'd never heard anyone say my name in such a way before, and it almost made me tremble, "Takara," I knew that it was that Obelisk; I slowed down enough for him to catch up to me. When I glanced back at Kumiko and the others, they'd stopped dead in their tracks when Pretty Eyes had shown up. Now they were whispering to each other with creepy little grins on their faces. I could only wonder what they were going to be spreading around campus.

We both walked in an awkward silence for a while, but it was broken by the last person I expected: one of his little Spirit Monster guys—the yellow one, to be specific. "Well, you got this far, Chazz, you may as well say something else to her." I glanced over at the little yellow creature, realizing immediately that they were all Ojama Cards. I was surprised that I hadn't noticed that when I first saw them.

Noticing my gaze on them, they turned towards me and floated on over to hover in front of me. With grins on their faces, they gave little bows and Ojama Black gave a little introduction speech, "We are the Ojama Trio, and we are pleased to meet you. And Chazz seems to like you very much, because he won't stop—"

"The Chazz did not ask for your two cents!" He glared at the trio, and they returned to their spot over his shoulders. He didn't seem very angry, more so embarrassed than anything else; his cheeks were beginning to turn a very bright shade of pink, nearly forcing a smile across my face, though I was able to hold it back. Almost as if he'd forgotten they'd said anything, though there was plenty of evidence on his face, he returned his attention to me.

He was about to say something else, but I cut him off with an inquiry of my own before he even had the first syllable out. "I don't know what your name is. Who are you?" It had sounded a lot less blunt in my head, everything sounded better in there. But it always found a way to my mouth, and out into the open air where I couldn't do anything about it.

Complete and utter astonishment crossed his face at my words, like he couldn't believe that he'd been talking to someone who had no clue who he was in the least. Even though I had a pretty good idea due to the Ojamas. "I'm Chazz Princeton, and I've heard from a lot of people that you're Takara Kawano. From that look on your face, I'll bet you've been meeting all kinds of new people whose names you don't plan on remembering." _…Was I talking out loud or something?_

Wondering inwardly how he could've known just by my expression what I was thinking about my roommates, I didn't notice the strength of the wall around me beginning to lessen bit by bit. "You helped me ditch a trio of Slifers that your Ojamas might like to meet. They'd never come by me again, and I'd be forever in your debt, so we'd both be happy." I held my arms out to the side as if I'd just come up with something great and wonderful that I wouldn't regret later.

Chazz laughed, a sweet sound that suddenly drove my heart into overdrive; I couldn't remember a time that it beat this fast because of someone's giggle. But then again, when was the last time that I even let myself feel like this? With the way that my step-brother used to beat me up all the time for almost no reason at all, I'd lost the will to find someone that had the right chemicals to make me feel this way. I'd always thought that they would turn out like him: Brutal, cruel, and violent.

_But I don't know if Chazz is like that; I can't let down my guard. It's the only thing that I can protect myself with. _I tried desperately to harden my heart to the innocent sound that reverberated in my ears, but it was difficult when it became all I wanted to hear. Everything drowned out of my head except for Chazz, his dark, hypnotizing eyes closing the door to my mind even on his annoying Ojamas, who were still making comments that I could no longer hear.

A couple of minutes went by before I realized I was staring at him.

With a red hue beginning to cross over my face, I turned my face from him yet again, attempting to show that he hadn't done anything but bang his fist against the border between us, between me and everyone. But that façade was built of fear and fear alone, and deep down inside of me I knew it full well. It was merely a matter of time before I would open myself up to heartache again, only to recall the hurt Hoshiro had caused me when I was a defenseless kid. I was afraid to trust Chazz.

My distress must've been clear to anyone who passed by—I was noticing a few people giving us weird stares and jabbing the person next to them as a gesture to gaze awkwardly as well. Blue Boy saw the hurt in my expression as well, but I was astonished at what replaced the puzzled expression that had once been plastered on his face (I assumed it was there 'cause of me staring): Concern.

The heartfelt sentiment warmed his midnight eyes like nothing I'd ever seen before; no one ever looked at me that way. _Someone's making their crush a bit obvious. Not that I don't like it—Gah, just shut up. Stupid mental voice always saying the stuff I'm thinking. _I could've sworn that he was about to hug me, but instead a soft smile crossed his equally tender-appearing lips. "Have you ever heard the legend of the Idcup?" _…What the heck? What's this guy gonna say next? That he can stick a rainbow up his nose and fit it back out his ear?_

Despite my inner objections, my curiosity got the best of me and I shook my head, wondering what in the world I was getting myself into by allowing him to explain. He seemed quite pleased at my cooperative response, though. "Well, you see, Idcup was an odd fellow. The strange thing about him was that he would fall insanely in love with a different girl every Tuesday, but would always find himself heartbroken the Monday evening before the next Tuesday. He knew he would never find true happiness in any girl he found because of his queer curse, and he fell into a deep depression.

"Over the years, he continued to fall in and out of love periodically, only adding to the pain he was already feeling. But then, on a foggy Monday night just after he'd had his heart broken yet again, Idcup had finally had enough. He thought that his pain might end if he were to break the routine of the curse, and what better way to do that but by spending all of Tuesday away from any other living person?

"Fate, however, didn't wish for that to happen, and he got into a car accident only miles away from his destination. He was killed instantly with only the thought of a lasting love on his mind as the other car raced towards him with no hope of slowing down. But when the paramedics came to take his body away, they found that it wasn't in the car at all, and there were no signs of it having been stolen.

"To this day, people believe that Idcup's body, after all his heart went through, had gone up with his soul to heaven to be sewn back together. But a new body wasn't what Idcup wanted to live in eternal happiness. The only thing his soul wished for was to roam amongst mortals, and help them meet the one they were meant to spend their lives with. Some say, that if you bump into someone on the street in a long white coat on a Tuesday morning, you'll become infatuated with your soul mate, even if you've never met them before. Until the day that you do, nothing about them but the feeling that their presences sets off in you will be known to you." I was so confused by the end of his little story that I was speechless (Not that I'd been a chatterbox before in any way, shape, or form).

Why had Chazz told me this story about love and finding the One? What was he expecting me to do as a reaction to all that he'd said? What kind of a name was 'Idcup'? If he'd made this whole story up just to creep me out and get my mind off of what was bothering me, had he known that I'd gotten one of my best cards by bumping into someone on the street who'd been wearing a white trench coat, or had it been a lucky guess? How in the world had he known that I was a sucker for stories like that? _Because it's obvious that you would be—I _hate_ my mental voice!_

Just as I was about to break my eternity-long quiet streak, dread passed over me at the shrill voice shattering any chances of an agonizingly schmaltzy moment that either Chazz might've started or I would've accidentally caused, "_There_ you are!" I wanted to use the Princeton boy as a human shield, but decided against it when I figured that no one should have to suffer the wrath of Shina, Kumiko, and Ayako. Shina had been the one to speak.

All three of them made a grab at me, and despite my attempt to evade them, Ayako was able to latch onto my arm and keep me from fleeing them again. It was the only thing on my mind after what came out of Kumiko's mouth (all of them seemed to take turns talking, even though it was clear that they all had the same thing on their minds half of all the time), "We knew you wouldn't ditch us; the Obelisk—" She cast me a slight look of loathing as she spoke the word, knowing that society here wanted the two ranks to hate each other. "—boyfriend you never told us about—"

"Oh, I'm not her boyfriend," Chazz surprised me at his interruption, though I couldn't have been more grateful; usually it was me interjecting anything that would keep people from thinking that I felt anything for anyone. This was definetly one of those times, but for once I actually had something to hide. Casting a wink in my direction, a cute little smile on his face as well, Princeton turned away from me and continued on his way with a cool composure.

Shina apparently hadn't noticed the smile or the wink. "Hmph! Well, that was a little rude, don't ya think?" As the other two agreed and Ayako started to drag me away, saying something about going to see if they could find Jaden and ask to feel his muscle, I wondered again to myself about that 'legend' Chazz had told me.

Idcup. Seriously, what the heck was that supposed to be? But as I thought it over, rolling to letters around and around in my head like a washing machine, and the fact that it had been a love story, the realization instantly hit me. Idcup, if you switched the syllables around, spelled Cupid.

* * *

Three days had passed since I'd last spoken to Chazz, even though I'd tried my best to greet him any time that I saw him, which—sadly—wasn't very often. I had gotten the opportunity to have a civilized conversation with him once, since I'd been lucky enough to get a seat next to him in the cross-dresser's class again. But everything had gone wrong after I saw him and decided I was going to give small talk a shot.

Apparently my infatuation with him had grown over his absence, because the first word out of my mouth had been stuttered, practically shouting that I had a crush on him. I'd slapped a hand over my mouth as quickly as I could to stop myself from continuing further like my heart wanted to. At that time, my mind knew _so_ much better. Even Bastion (Jaden had introduced it to keep my mind off of what had been plaguing my mind; I hadn't told him about liking an Obelisk) had found it a little amusing, and had needed to slightly cover his smile so I wouldn't notice it. But I had. So I stole his blazer and was currently wearing it while I went over the events of yesterday.

Walking around campus in both a Ra uniform and a Slifer one could get you a lot more odd glances than I'd thought at first. One Obelisk with a serious obsession with hair gel asked if I wanted his jacket to add to my collection, but I merely ignored him. I was looking for Jaden, wanting badly to talk to someone about what I should do. Even if I could find a moment talk to Chazz I'd keep stuttering like a moron and make a huge fool out of myself. Alexis had told me that Yuki and Princeton were pretty good friends, and Jaden seemed like someone I could trust, so I'd figured that I didn't have much more of a choice if I was going to find a way past the awkwardness of the loathing of my and Chazz's ranks.

With millions of ways to go around admitting my feelings for one of his friends, I pounded on the door of their room, only to have it opened by Chumley. He must've known it was me, since no one else they knew knocked on the door with so much force you'd think I was trying to break it down. I glanced at him as a sign of recognition, though he wasn't the one I was looking for. But looking past him into the room, I saw the guy I _did_ want to talk to.

Jaden must've noticed the pained look on my face, because he suddenly seemed worried and stood up from his spot on the floor. "Hey, you okay? Chumley, let her in." Syrus jumped up from the desk chair as Chumley moved aside, his face even sporting a slight bit of worry, none of them ever having seen me with such a weak, pathetic composure.

I plopped down into the chair that Syrus had leapt from when he'd seen me only seconds ago. Looking down at my hands, I saw that they were trembling worse than they had when I'd been dueling my brother to get him to leave me alone for a couple of months to recuperate and lead a semi-normal life. When I beat him, he kept the truce for a little while, but when I tried to run away from home to escape him, he 'forgot' about it completely. I knew that this talk with Jaden wouldn't end like that; his eyes were too kind, too warm with friendship and love.

Said brunette gazed at me for a few moments, watching me tremble and think, making multi-tasking look like it was difficult for me to do. But then, a huge grin broke across his face, and all of that concern faded away into glee that he must've been yearning to show. Having made this change pretty freaking obvious, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, tried desperately to harden my expression, and snapped weakly, "What—" I barely even got the question out before he was talking again.

"You love—" Hearing those first two words was way more than enough for me to know that I was in a bad situation. Jaden already knew that I liked someone, and who knew if he was right or not? If he was and he mentioned Chazz's name, they'd know he was right because I'd start stuttering like a drunk squirrel or something. And even if he was wrong, I'd be thinking about Chazz and I'd still stammer. There was no winning here.

Reacting as quickly as humanly possible, my hands went into a spasm of movements, all gesturing for him to be silenced. "No, no, no! Jaden, Jaden, shut it!" I looked pleadingly to the pale-blue-haired boy that was obsessed with every girl he'd ever met for help. "Quick, Syrus, find some duct tape! Don't listen to a word he says!" But I knew that I'd made too big of a deal out of all of this for any of them to drop it. Realizing my mistake from the beginning, I let out a distressed groan and slammed my head down on the desk hard enough to make all of the books jump. However, I didn't stop trying to get them to ignore Jaden's two words. "Whatever he says, he's lying!"

Silence filled the room for a moment, long enough for me to wonder what Yuki's reaction to my actions had been anyway. I rolled my throbbing head to the side and gazed at him, only to have utter bewilderment intertwine in my already pounding head at his expression. Never had I seen a smile that big or that threatening, or eyes that, added with the grin, held no intention of using that menace to their advantage. It was just there to freak me out a little, though it was easy to see through, especially knowing Jaden Yuki himself. He wouldn't dare say a thing outside of this dysfunctional little group, or even inside it if I made any move that stated my disapproval.

I wasn't sure if I'd made that clear enough.

As if he were ignoring everyone else in the room, his mischievous grin faltered slightly, taking on a much more comforting and serene little beam and he told me with a tenderness in his voice that I usually didn't hear, "You only have to say one word to keep my lips sealed," Seeing that he'd caught my attention with extreme ease, he continued, his eyes shimmering with an evil only Cupid had, "Just say 'please'." _Jaden Yuki, I swear on little Kuriboh over there that you're a dead man for that._

Staring into his sweet brown eyes for any sign of falsehood in them, awe struck me when I found none, only the truth. Except for that touch of Cupid-brand-evil. But I assumed that was just because of the conversation at hand and ignored it for the most part. Taking his word to heart, I nodded in agreement at his condition. "Please, do not talk about Ch-Chazz—I mean…_him_ to anyone—" I ignored the looks on Chumley and Syrus's faces, both of them as if they'd just been slapped. "—and please don't tell him that I like him; it might make things really awkward and ruin the little bond that we have so far—"

Words ceased to form on my tongue when Jaden suddenly hugged me to him, Syrus immediately taking advantage of the opportunity to be close to me and joining. Chumley just seemed plain disgusted and simply climbed up into his bed, facing the wall though anyone could tell he was listening intently for another one of my slip-ups. For example, mentioning Chazz's name, and even stuttering it.

"_We_ are like sisters here, Kara. I won't say a word about you having a Romeo/Juliet thing with an Obelisk. Specifically _Chazz Princeton_. Not a word." My face flushed a bright red hue at the mention of the two young lovers, the fact that they both died tragically making no difference to me. Instead, it made a song suddenly come to my mind, one that I'd listened to the first night here. _Run, baby, run. Don't ever look back. They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance. Don't sell your heart; don't say 'We're not meant to be'. Run, baby, run. Forever will be you and me…_

* * *

I woke up early the next morning and got to class on time for the first time in weeks. Even my roommates slept in longer than I did. And I wasn't only up early; I was filled with energy that made me feel that sitting still in a classroom for hours was literally impossible. But I was willing to suffer through it if it meant that I would see Chazz, the cause of this sudden up-lifting manner. Last night after leaving the boys' dorm, I'd made a promise to myself to do a better job of showing glee, friendship, and loving concern like Jaden had, while also putting some of my sarcasm and pessimistic persona into myself daily as well.

Arriving at Crowler's classroom, even he appeared to be in a chipper mood. Seeing me enter the door with a little grin on my face (I was pretty sure he'd never seen me smile before) seemed to put a little more of a bounce in his stride. Not only that, but he greeted me as well with a small smile of recognition, though it faded again quite quickly. I knew that it would take a long time for the student/teacher relation between us to recover from my calling him a cross-dresser to his face, but if it got me to the Obelisk rank sooner, I didn't mind.

Besides, he didn't act like he cared all that much, kind of like 'Tell me something I don't know'.

I saw Jaden—apparently, my new 'sister'—already there, which was even more surprising than me being here so early. But I shrugged off the puzzlement of his new-timed morning and raced up the little steps leading to the long rows of desks until I found the one behind Jaden, immediately becoming its occupant. Though, I still had a lot of that energy twisting around inside of me, so I couldn't stop resituating my position, even though it really didn't do anything to help.

Crowler took his dear sweet time during class, fighting as much into every second as he could, and still having more than enough for the following minutes. I was attempting to pay attention, but it was hard when I was more focused on figuring out where Chazz was. Finally I assumed that he was somewhere behind me with all of the other Obelisks, and I gave in to the lesson. Jaden, however, yanked me right back out of it by leaning back in his chair to get close enough that I could hear him. "I think I should tell you something about tonight, since it does involve you, after all…"

His words were coming out slowly, each one chosen carefully, nervously, but with an overall happy air to them. Not being able to see his face didn't help in learning of what he was talking about, but my cheerful demeanor deterred me from thinking anything too bad. "What's up, Yuki? What are you talking about?" I put my eyes back up on the board, where Crowler was busy having another student write all of the different types of cards.

Jaden was quiet for another few seconds, but then jumped right to the point before I could have any time to ready myself in the littlest bit. "I asked Chazz out on a date for you since you seemed so worried about it. And because of that little stutter—I figured it happened whenever Chazz was mentioned or something so—" My good mood faded, along with all of my content-induced energy.

I leapt up from my chair, spun him around, and grabbed him by the collar of his blazer so tightly that my knuckles turned white, along with my face and the rest of me as well. My whole body was racked with an unexpected weak flash and I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up and die. "You d-did what?" I shouted, clearly not caring if I got any strange looks. The people sitting around Jaden and I were already staring at me with concern for Jaden and confusion at my sudden actions.

Crowler appeared reasonably disturbed as well, though he was the only one who acted to counter my reaction to Jaden's news. "Ms. Kawano, please release Mr. Yuki. Whatever he did, you can sort out when you're out of my classroom. Understood?" He gave me an intensely angered look, to which I replied by reluctantly releasing an astonished but unafraid Jaden. That was probably what he'd been expecting, but his surprise had most likely come from me never having done so to him before.

Both of us sat down again, but Jaden's chair stayed in the position it had been in when he'd mentioned the date that I now had in my schedule tonight. I sat trembling in my chair with enough force to make it rattle. My skin was white as snow with my anxiety and fright; but inside my heart was racing faster than it ever had before, and the pain of all of these things combined was actually quite enjoyable. I didn't understand it, but that didn't mean that I wanted to by going on said date.

"You know, I kept my promise," Jaden's voice was hushed and sensitive, making every word as clear and gentle as it could possibly be without setting me off again. He was half turned around so I could see into his eyes, which were just as sickly sweet as the tone of his voice. It was hard to be mad at him, especially when all I wanted to do was curl up under a rock and wait for the end of the world. "I didn't say anything to anyone about you liking Chazz Princeton, nor did I say anything to him." _…Well, that explains everything, now doesn't it?_

I stared at the back of his head with a quizzical expression, wondering to myself what that could even mean. "If you didn't say anything, then how did I end up on a date with him?" Yuki shifted uncomfortably in his seat and remained quiet for a moment, thinking over his next few words with care. He had to make sure that I didn't see one single fault in his words and condemn him for it.

Jaden started out quick, continually spitting the words out like rapid-fire, "Well, you never said I couldn't say anything about the stuttering, so I talked Syrus into talking to Bastion, who talked to Jesse, who convinced Aster to talk to Alexis, who then spoke with Blair, and finally she told Zane to make Shina and Kumiko ask Chazz out for you. So, I didn't do anything—"

"You had evil puppets do your bidding. Like a ventriloquist. Or a puppeteer," I concluded with a scowl, upset beyond belief by the fact that he'd listened so well last night. At least at what he'd heard when he was listening. I let out a small sigh through my nose at his sly conjuring of the date, knowing deep down that he'd been quite clever. "I guess I can't kill you since you did stay true to your word. But what am I supposed to do about the stammering? And have you noticed anything different about my composure? It's not like I can act normally when I'm by myself with him—"

He must've seen that statement coming. "Oh, don't worry about that. We've got you covered." Right before I was about to ask him what he meant by that, and who 'we' was, I noticed Crowler shoot me a death glance. Subdued by his warning, I remained silent and Jaden returned to class as well. But I could sense his eerie smile again.

* * *

"You're freaking pulling my chain. A double-date?" I repeated Alexis's words, yanking stubbornly against the hairbrush as she attempted to comb through the unruly red locks. I'd explained to her again and again that there was no way she was going to get that brush back if it got stuck in my hair, but she'd ignored me completely. Now my head was sore all over.

Winged Kuriboh floated like a little angel in front of me, though he remained quiet except for the little fluttering sounds he made whenever he moved in the air. I could feel the sureness pass over me like the little puff ball himself had infected me with the knowledge of the truth. This was no joke; Kumiko and Jaden were going to fake being a couple for tonight, and try to keep me as calm as they could. After that, I was on my own.

I bit my tongue to hold back an 'ow' (It becomes a reflex after a while, you know), and instead questioned, "Why didn't you go on the pretend-date with Jaden instead of Kumiko? I'd rather have you there instead of her," My eye twitched as the comb broke through another snarl I hadn't even known was there. It took Alexis a little while to reply; for a second I thought it was only because she was busy with my hair.

"I didn't want to give him any ideas; I'm not going to make my feelings for him as clear as Kumiko has. And I know you don't like her, but I wouldn't worry about it since she's not the one you're going to be focusing on all night," The Obelisk's final words were obviously said with a smile, a little giggle also there to accompany it. Even Winged Kuriboh made a minute noise that was probably laughter. Usually I would've been irritated by such a comment, but I saw the brute honesty in her words, and a grin broke across my face.

However, Rhodes's little joke didn't do much against my nervousness; it had remained constant with me ever since Jaden had first mentioned the date. And now, since it was about time for Jaden to show up to take Kumiko and I to the place that Chazz had agreed to meet us (it was after curfew so that no one would interrupt us). Kumiko had been in the bathroom doing her makeup for the past twenty minutes, and she'd done her hair (with help from Shina, since Ayako was already asleep) for another half an hour before that. Alexis had been trying to calm me since she'd gotten here, but none of it had really helped.

Probably sensing this in my silent demeanor, Alexis gave a final tug to my hair before setting the brush down. Kneeling down next to the chair I was in, and looked up into my frightened face with compassion in her own. "You know, you don't have to worry about Chazz not liking you," She said in a hushed tone, quiet enough so that the other three couldn't hear. "He wouldn't have said 'yes' if he didn't. He's into the spunk of your attitude, the sarcasm that's always in your tone, and the way you can suddenly be so different but still be you. Just remember that a date is used to get to know people better, so just be exactly who you are. You won't be so nervous after a while; you'll get used to each other, I can guarantee you that." With another reassuring smile, she rose again and walked out the door, heading back to her own dormitory and leaving me to think about what she'd said.

I didn't get all that much time to ponder it alone, though, since the Three Bratsketeers came careening out of the bathroom, Kumiko so dressed up that I could barely recognize her. She was wearing a little red dress that she must've brought with her when she came, and compared to my Slifer uniform, made it seem like she had over-dressed, or I had done the opposite. But I'd never really been one to be all that self-conscious, so I turned from them and tried to focus again on Alexis's words.

However, Jaden showed up right then, and all of her consoling faded instantly from my mind and was replaced by the trembling and pale physique yet again. "Okay, you two ready—Dude, you look like you're going to be sick," Jaden directed the final statement at me when he saw my composure, to which I replied with a 'Thanks for the compliment' nod and smirk before rising to my feet. It was dark, so Chazz wouldn't be able to see that as plainly as Chazz would be; that gave me a bit more confidence.

"I'll be alright," I answered the reasonably cute brunette with a shrug and a smile to reassure my own mind. Trying hard to ignore the fact that I wasn't sure if that was a lie or not, I shook all of those thoughts from my head. Besides, Jaden was busy finding a way to get blood to circulate throughout his whole arm while Kumiko was clinging to it happily as if she were about to fall down a precipice and Jaden was the only thing that could possibly save her, so even if I'd wanted to explain my appearance, there was no time. "Well, let's go." With a deep breath, I followed Jaden and Kumiko out the door and into the bright, starlit night.

There was a slight cold in the air, though it bothered me none. In fact, the chilled breeze felt nice against my burning face. It definitely bothered Kumiko, however, and she simply huddled closer to Jaden as we walked, making a slight pity for Yuki sweep over me for a moment. But it faded when we reached the place that Jaden had said Chazz would be waiting at, and it was replaced by a sudden feeling that urged me to leave while I still had a chance and take Jaden's idea of me being ill. I didn't want to, but I wasn't sure I could do this anymore.

'_If he didn't like you, he wouldn't have said 'yes'.' _Alexis's words unexpected rang in my head, echoing throughout my whole psyche and reaching my very soul, causing it to twist and bend with its own form of thinking. The note of truth that she'd spoken gave my heart enough confidence that I wouldn't stutter enough to deter his feelings to make me stay. And I'd decided just in time, because the very boy that had consistently been on my mind since the day we'd met had walked up out of the shadows of the night.

Chazz's dark eyes glittered like black gems in the blinding moonlight, the blue of his uniform seeming almost black in itself. But the evil in his appearance was, to me, only an example of the phrase, 'Don't judge a book by its cover'. Inside, there was a sweetness that I couldn't stand strong against, and a cleverness that kept me on my toes, ready to make a comeback at any and every moment we were together. It wasn't a very good match.

Princeton gave a nod and strange grin of recognition to the brunette, as if they shared a language no one else knew, before moving over to me. My heart raced as a cute little smile crossed his pretty mouth, my cheekbones immediately a hue brighter than a cherry or strawberry. "Good evening," He purred, sending my pulse off the charts. The sexiness of that tone had been unexpected by my mind, which was still trying to calculate how to react to something like that.

In the end, I didn't think long enough. "H-Hi…" The lone word squeaked out of my throat like it had been glazed with butter or slicked with soap. Embarrassment at both the high-pitched tone and the stammer combined into one shameful tune was too much for me to handle, and all sureness in myself left with a slam of the door. My already red face grew bolder, though I did what I could to hide it. _Couldn't Chazz have one of these problems? At least the squeaking would be nice to have gone. Not that I'll be happy with the stuttering, but I'll deal with it. _

Jaden was about to say something, the little grin on his face telling me that whatever it was wasn't going to be something that would help all that much, but Kumiko interrupted him suddenly and pointed past Chazz back towards one of the buildings, one that I knew held a dueling arena in it, specifically the Obelisks'. "It's campus security!" The one time she was a bit useful, and it had to be at the worst moment fate could've picked.

The Princeton boy suddenly snatched my hand in his, and gave it a slight tug as he urged me to follow. Not knowing how to free my hand from his (More like how to get myself to release _his_ hand), I took his cue and broke into a run beside him, though I noticed that Jaden and Kumiko had gone the opposite direction. My mind hadn't quite figured out what that meant at that exact moment, however.

We finally stopped, both of us knowing that the guards would be a long ways away by now, probably just ending their rounds of the island, having not seen anyone and figuring that all of the students had been subdued by their curfew for once. When I glanced around at where we were, I knew that I'd never been here before in all the times I'd wandered around campus: there was a large pond surrounded by trees, though you could just barely see the tips of some of the academy buildings beyond the trees, though they were the only things you attempted to ignore.

The way the moon was reflected into the still water—along with all of the shiny stars that seemed even smaller in the liquid mirror—drew me to the pond's edge, letting go of Chazz's hand. I tried to forget that fact that he'd been holding my hand for a while before showing any sign of being nervous about it; he did a much better job of hiding it than I did, I had to admit that. The thought of having even touched his hand made my heart flutter like a butterfly and my mind go numb, like I'd been punched in the face or kicked in the teeth or something.

After standing on the bank for a while, I sat down on a large stone that jutted out into the water a little bit. I moved over on the rock enough so that Chazz could join me, and we both sat there overlooking the water in contented silence for a little while, both of us not exactly sure what to say now that it was only the two of us. But after a minute one of the topics we'd last conversed about popped back into my head, causing a small smile to break across my face.

Chazz noticed the grin, and cast me a questioning glance, though there was a twinkle in his eye that told me he knew exactly what was on my mind. "You remember _Idcup_, don't you, Chazz? It's been a few days since we mentioned _him_ last," With the hot blush still clear on my face, I looked over at Chazz as he let out a chuckle. He recalled that topic, all right.

"So, you figured that out. _The Chazz_ isn't all that impressed," The black-haired Obelisk closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest coolly, as if it was normal for him to have made up a story about Cupid and tell it to the Slifer girl he'd been toying with for the past few weeks. I found that reaction quite unsurprising.

Although, I had to admit that his elitist ego made me eager to see him duel one of these days. It was hard not to want, especially since he was an Obelisk after all, and it was true that they were there because of their mental abilities as well as their abilities in the arena itself. I'd been told bits and fragments about his style, but it was never the same of seeing him with my own eyes, interpreting his moves as his very opponent. I swore immediately to myself that I would avoid any opportunity to observe him duel before I, myself, had a chance to go against him.

"You'll be a lot more impressed when I take out your Life Points in three, maybe four n' a half turns," I assured him with a nod of my head and a confident smirk on my face as I saw his cool physique break at my comment. Content shrouded me, knowing that I had him exactly where I wanted him in this conversation, both of us at odds, in a game of cat and mouse. A person needed to be quick and clever in a duel such as this, slyly turning the other being's words on them in a way that they wouldn't expect.

A smile crossed Chazz's face as he shook his head in a minute case of disbelief. "It's almost funny how you Slifers are so headstrong and roaring to show what you're made of, and yet there you are, in the lowest rank. And with your case…I suppose it shows that Crowler was pretty peeved at your cross-dresser remark—" He chuckled at the way I turned towards him suddenly, becoming embarrassed at the fact that even things that I'd said had begun to spread around the whole academy.

With that surprise clear in my voice, even more words squeaked out of my mouth, "Y-You h-heard about that?" I covered my mouth instantly, slapping a hand over it and facing the other direction as I mentally scolded myself for acting in such a way that damaged my stupid, self-mutilating pride. My trembling started up again at my humiliation, only making everything worse, especially since I was so close to Chazz and there was no way for me to hide the shaking.

However, all of those atrocious feelings slid from my consciousness as the gentle Obelisk turned me back around to face him, his fingers holding my chin up so I had no choice but to look into his eyes, the hue of them darker than midnight itself, though rivaling any of the stars in the sky, even the moon, in beauty. There was a comforting sensation in the air at our closeness, and as I breathed it into my lungs, the sweetness filling my soul, the pain of the stammering and high tone almost erased itself from my memory.

The hot blush and squirming butterflies were the only things that didn't fade away from me. That, and my trembling. "Don't beat yourself up," He whispered tenderly, the emotions on his face so irresistible to me that I had to close my eyes tightly and attempt to think of something other than him. Though they popped back open again at his final quote. "That little stutter was pretty cute."

I stared at him through eyes that were lightly fearful, but mainly confused, like a lamb gazing at a world it had just come to know as home. My hands were fisted on my lap, while Chazz's were holding my face with compassion that heated not only my face, but my whole body, the cold breeze doing nothing against me now like it had once been. There was nothing more filling my mind but to close to little bit of distance between the two of us; my heart wished to feel Chazz's warmth all around me, surrounding me completely and stay forever.

Almost as if he sensed that wish, Chazz made a slight move to bring his face closer to mine, affectionately and slowly, leaving me as much time as I needed to make an objection to the sign of the sentiment the both of us felt inside. So, taking that opportunity, I put my hands on his chest and gave him a small shove. I hadn't thought it was enough to knock him over, but the next thing I knew he was sitting on the ground with a confused look on his face. I instantly regretted my choice and wished that I'd done what my heart had commanded, and not my mind. I had to get past the barrier I'd made before I could get any farther than that almost-a-kiss.

Though, as he rose from the grass, the playful little smile on the Obelisk's face made it appear as if he'd found my reaction quite amusing. But he stayed quiet, both of us did, as we gazed out over the sparkling water. My rue for having pushed him away began to fade as I recalled that they night wouldn't be over for a while yet, and that this was only the first page, not where they storyline would end. I had a couple more opportunities left. I just had to pick the right one.

After a few seconds, I got up from the stone and the two of us walked away from the pond and off into the surrounding trees. Since it had now become routine for us to be silenced, I turned my head to face Chazz, the blush still as bright as ever there on my cheeks, and said the only thing that came to my mind on such short notice, "So, um, since 'dates' are chances to get to know people, te—Huh?" I stopped abruptly and made a sound of minute puzzlement when I glanced down and saw that my hand was now intertwined with the Obelisk's.

With my face now burning red, I was about to turn away from Chazz, but stopped when I noticed the Ojamas dashing back into his blazer pocket so they wouldn't be caught. But Chazz was a fair amount smarter than them, and knew that if he hadn't intentionally made a move to hold my hand, and if I was too nervous to take his, that only left his sly little Spirit Monsters.

It was pretty clear that he hadn't wanted them along for this exact reason. They were far too knowledgeable in the matter between Chazz and I, having been around Chazz throughout the whole scene and even before I'd gotten here. They knew how Chazz felt about me and they could see how I felt about him, so they saw no reason why we shouldn't be acting like another couple with each other. Obviously they didn't catch the fact that I was too frightened and anxious to do anything more than what had already been done. If that.

Neither of us made a single movement that indicated the separating of our hands, even though that only encouraged the Ojamas actions. As long as hand-holding was as far as they would enforce, it didn't seem to bother Chazz all that much, even though it was a little obvious that he was a bit pissed at them for coming along in the first place. Or thinking that he needed a hand in his romantic gestures.

I felt much warmer inside with Chazz's hand in mine, as if the little bit of heat that I could feel was enough to keep me content despite the chill of the night air. I was even too pleased to notice that I was shuddering again; thankfully, the Obelisk that owned the hand I currently held mistook the shivers for something other than the truth. "Are you cold?" Glancing at him, I felt my heart skip a beat at the sweet concern there in his pretty eyes.

With an embarrassed grin, I removed my hand from the comfort of his. I didn't want to be close enough that he could easily notice these kinds of things. But I couldn't help but mutter with all honesty, "…A little bit…" _Yay, I didn't stammer!_ Excitement filled my soul at this 'accomplishment', only increasing the rate at which my heart was hammering and making a lot of things worse.

To my slight surprise, Chazz replied by removing his Obelisk blazer, leaving only a fluffy, soft-looking long-sleeved gray shirt underneath. He handed the blue jacket to me, and, not knowing if I even had any other options if I wanted them, took the article with a small smile and an appreciative nod of my head.

We continued onwards through the minute group of trees as I slipped it on over my arms and shoulders, buttoning it up close to my chin, and loving the warmth that Chazz's body heat had left there. It was almost like a hug, though not as great, since I couldn't rest against Chazz himself, hearing his heart beat like a lullaby in his chest.

A hue of bright crimson dusted my cheeks at my own thoughts, knowing that there was no going back to normal after this. I'd only been at Duel Academy for a few weeks and my perspective on the world had completely changed. It didn't revolve around the pain my step-brother had caused anymore. Now, it focused on Chazz and my beautiful—but annoying and complex—feelings for him.

I forgot for a moment the warm shade on my face when Chazz suddenly turned to me, taking my arm with a small smile and saying as if it were a secret, "I think I know a place you'd like to see," He gave a slight tug to my arm, and then gently interlaced his fingers comfortably with mine, only making the red of my face and the weakness in my knees all the worse. "Just don't let go of my hand." Almost certain that my heart stopped beating at that rule, I followed without a word. Keeping my hand in his.

My mind was too busy flipping out about holding Chazz's hand to remember how far we'd gone—or if we'd been going uphill—but soon I saw exactly what the slyly cute Obelisk boy had wanted to show me. We were standing up on a precipice that overlooked the waters around Duel Academy's island, hear the crashing of the waves against the rocks below. It would've been nicer to come during sunset with the way it would've dropped down beneath the ocean, but the stars and moon, with the way that they made the water glitter and reflect their perfection was just fine by me.

Reluctantly releasing his hand, I wandered from him to the very edge of the cliff. The midnight-eyed boy joined me as I sat down near the edge of it, my knees pulled up to my chest. I let out a sigh of content and happiness as I removed my arms from my legs and let them dangle over the side of the rock face. "It's almost perfect…" I muttered with a small smile, my face turning red at my next words, inspired by Winged Kuriboh and the Ojamas' impersonation of my dream moment with Chazz. Which I was very pissed off about at that time.

Chazz must've noticed that this was something he had to play along with, so he replied with an attempt at a normal expression, trying to appear as though he didn't know what I was talking about, "'Almost' perfect? How so?" As he turned to face me, that spark of romance there in his eyes again, all of the confidence I'd once had in myself faded into a pool of nothingness.

In an attempt to escape the conversation long enough to remember what I was going to say, I focused my eyes down on the corner of Chazz's Obelisk blazer and started twiddling the corner of it in my fingers. I was pulled from my trance by a sudden shove towards Chazz, which—judging by his surprise—wasn't done by him. When I glanced to the opposite side I caught a glimpse of the Ojamas (The little devils) sneaking back into the pocket of the jacket.

But neither of us thought to change the subject to getting back at them for it. We were too busy with the minute awkwardness of the closeness that no one wanted open again. As so break the silence that had come with the warmth of our nearness, I mumbled loud enough for him, and maybe the Ojamas as well, "You know, I bet your Spirit Monsters are getting all of these ideas from watching Twilight a few too many times, heheh…"

Chazz returned my snickering smile, that warm glow there in his eyes again. I learned why when he wrapped an arm around me, tenderly pulling my a little closer. I knew that this time he would wait for me to start any form of a kiss, even though I wasn't sure that I could. I was so nervous I'd probably miss. So, instead, I slowly, hesitantly leaned against him, resting my head against his shoulder and finding that I had been right. His shirt was soft and fuzzy.

I sighed again with contentment and overall comfort, closing my eyes for a moment. My heart pounded almost deafeningly in my chest, like an angry muscle builder was pounding on a drum set. But it wasn't a bad sound, in fact it was quite serene to hear; it wasn't every day that your emotions sent your heartbeat off the charts.

As I opened my eyes, Chazz chuckled lightly as he quietly commented, "_The Chazz_ assumes this won't be our only date," He gently nuzzled his face in my hair, making me blush even more. I wasn't sure that my organs and muscles were getting the blood that they needed since most to all of it was lighting up my face. "Since it seems to me that you can't get enough of me." _There's the ego I was waiting to hear._

Finding the courage deep inside of myself again, I let out a sigh of preparation through my nose before saying quietly, scared out of my freaking mind, "You wanted to know how this was only 'almost' perfect?" I could feel the wait for my continuation, his curiosity to hear what I was going to say now. That sensation, knowing that he would feel the same, drove me to speak again, with force and utter honesty in my voice, though it was still soft and gentle, like his had been when he'd called my stammer cute, "It's because this is going to end soon…And I don't want it to…

"And then we're Obelisk and Slifer, the two ranks that shouldn't be together at all—I mean, Ra Yellow would be fine with both, but not the ranks that we are. I mean, the Slifers might get a little peeved for a while, but they'd get used to me being with you after a while. Though, I don't think that the other Obelisks—not including Alexis, or Aster, or anybody like them—would let it go that easy. They might try to tear us apart, and I…" It took all of the bravery in my soul to choke out the last few words. "I…I don't want you to leave. I've just started getting to know you, and I…I-I really like you…"

At first he seemed too stunned to speak. The quiet between us was long, but it wasn't awkward like before; it was thoughtful, a quiet that resonated pondering. And now, to my surprise, Chazz tightened his grip around me tenderly but possessively, and told me in a hushed tone, his words comforting despite the schmaltz, "I'm your Idcup now. The only way anyone's going to get me away from you is if you break my heart."

* * *

Even though I was tired from the late night, never had I felt happier in the morning. Of course, I slept too late and was almost late for class, but sleep wasn't the only thing that had me preoccupied. When I went to my locker after showering, I saw that there was a note tucked neatly underneath my shoe.

For a second I thought that some pervert had snuck in here, watched me in the shower and finally left a perv-ish note for me, probably blackmail. But when I picked it up and unfolded it, that was the exact opposite of what it truly was. The paper and handwriting weren't anything spectacular, both of them normal so they wouldn't steal away the awesomeness from the words themselves.

_'When I first met you, my heart pounded like a drum, to my ears, merely a hum. With each word you spoke, no matter how sarcastic, my mind and soul melted like plastic. Not a single ear heard of what I felt, disbelief and disgust eminent at the hand fate had dealt. But love for you still I held in the haven of my heart, despite us, Slifer and Obelisk, meant to stay apart. On the day that Jaden spoke of your infatuation with me, I thought that surely my voice would go all squeaky. And that night, the most wonderful of my life, I would trade for nothing, not even to evade strife. For my love for you burns like the sun, and with every touch the Ojamas forced, my head spun. After all that we now know of each other, and I still hope that you don't have in mind another lover, I don't care at all of what others may speak of us, of this. Because I know that they will never feel the pleasure that will be our first kiss. So, with this now known to you, and only you, you can assume I won't be able to wait long for date number two.'_

It was all I could do not to read it over and over again, having already used up a lot of time that I could've used getting to class. But when I finally got myself to fold up the poem, put it in my pocket, and sprint to class, Crowler had already begun it, though I could tell by the lack of anger on his face that I wasn't all that late, and he wasn't planning on chewing me out for it again.

I made my way up to an empty chair, which—sadly—was quite a ways away from Princeton, but he'd smiled at me when I came in, so that helped heal the pain of the distance. However, due to that little grin as I meandered up to my seat, I couldn't stop myself from pulling the poem out of my pocket as I sat down.

It was obvious that it was from Chazz—who else would've mentioned the Ojamas? Or pointed out the sarcasm? But the part that had caught my attention was what he'd said about what he knew that our first kiss would be awesome, lovely and gentle. I could almost imagine the affectionate moment in my head. The Obelisk's arms wrapped around me, bringing us close together in a warm embrace. My fingers playing with his soft, silky hair, twirling it around my fingers, causing a hot blush that I could feel on my face to appear on his cheeks. I could almost feel the velvet-smoothness of his lips on mine—

"Could you at least _pretend_ that your mind is here in class, Takara?"

I let out a sigh of contentment, almost muttering aloud for Crowler and the whole class to hear, "Chaz—" I noticed at the last moment possible that Crowler was standing right next to me, and had heard the name I'd half-mumbled. I could tell by the grin on his face that he'd learned why I hadn't been paying attention in his class. At that, I freaked out, and made stabbing gestures at him with a very sharp pencil that I'd 'borrowed' from the Ra Yellow sitting next to me. "Gahha! Get away, get away, get away, get away! Leave me alone, will ya? Sheesh!"

But this was only the beginning of Crowler's payback.

* * *

Well, I hope you guys liked my first Yugioh one-shot! I really liked writing it, and I've got two more Yugioh FanFics that I'm working on. One 5Ds, and the other for the 1st Series. Please review, I hope you liked it!


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